SWAN: We’ve seen a lot of backsliding from the Howard Government but I’ve never heard backsliding like we read in The Australian this morning where senior sources in the Howard Government say they couldn’t introduce their work and family policies because they were busy with the war in Iraq. It was the Howard Government that said three years ago that work and family was its priority. It was the

Prime Minister who said a long time ago that work and family was a priority. It was the Prime Minister’s office that was personally involved fourteen months ago in the preparation of a taskforce report that recommended changes to policy.

Well there’s been a lot of battles going on around the kitchen tables of this country over the last fourteen months while the Prime Minister has sat on his hands and has had rotting in his bottom drawer, concrete proposals which would be of financial and time benefit to Australian families.

The truth is this Prime Minister doesn’t care about Australian families at all; he just cares about winning votes. He can change his policy on superannuation in 48 hours. He can marshal the political will to go to war in Iraq in a short period of time but he cannot do anything for Australian families - ease the financial pressure by easing the high effective marginal tax rates, do something about family friendly workplaces, do

something about child care, fix the family payments system. All that‘s too hard for this Prime Minister. All of this shows how out of touch he is with the average Australian family and their struggle for survival around the kitchen table.

JOURNALIST: Do you support all the proposals in the leaked report?

SWAN: I don’t support all of the proposals that are documented in the Cabinet Minute because I haven’t seen what’s been finalised. But I do support the general direction. We certainly do need to ease the financial and tax burden on Australian families by fixing high effective marginal tax rates. We’ve got to immediately fix the debt trap in the family payments system. We’ve got to do something

about family friendly workplaces and we’ve absolutely got to do something about implementing paid maternity Leave. All of these things are Labor policy. Most of these things are contained in the Government documentation. What is missing is the political will to do something for Australian families. For the Prime Minister this morning and his senior officials to background journalists to say they didn’t have time to implement a family policy because we went to war in Iraq just gives you some idea of how cynical this Prime Minister and his Ministers are.

JOURNALIST: budget? So do you think the policies should be implemented straight away or wait until the

SWAN: least fourteen months. The test for him is to come into the Parliament this week and admit that he’s got it wrong, that he’ll put new proposals out there which will be of direct benefit to Australian families and

No. I said yesterday the Prime Minister has been sitting on these proposals for at

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announce it in the Parliament before it rises on Thursday. Look this Prime Minister has an incredible political hide. He can change policy in 48 hours when he wants to, but he expects Australian families to wait three years. Because if these recommendations are implemented now, they will not begin until his fourth term if he is re-elected. That’s how cynical this Prime Minister is and just how little he cares or

understands the battle for survival most families go through.

JOURNALIST: Should MP’s remuneration be increased (inaudible)?

SWAN: Well this is the other great irony isn’t it? While we have all of this evidence locked away in the Prime Minister’s bottom drawer for fourteen months while average families on pretty meagre incomes are paying effective marginal tax rates greater than sixty cents in the dollar, we’ve got a whole lot of other people calling for parliamentary salary increases. I just think that’s obscene.

JOURNALIST: So there should be no compensation..?

SWAN: commentary on this today, these are entirely matters for the Remuneration Tribunal, it’s not for politicians to be deciding what their level of pay should be and I don’t intend to push for change to that principle. Thanks

Well as I said at length yesterday and I’m not going to go and give a running